Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Ever since he was just a plus sign on a very early pregnancy test, Baby E has been our greatest blessing. Seeing the changes in him every day is mind-blowing! It seems with every passing day, he's gotten bigger, more active, developed more personality, etc. etc.!!

Baby E continues to be what we call a "ham and cheese sammich" :) This boy is constantly cheezin' and hammin' it up!! He is rarely without a smile and he has the greatest belly laugh! He's great at sitting up unassisted, rolling all over the place, crawling backwards and in circles (still working on forwards!) and does some killer planks and downward dogs too. He "talks", blows raspberries, and coos constantly. We supplement his bottle feeds with purees once or twice a day now, and he likes everything so far (apple, strawberries, bananas, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans) except for peas. He continues to sleep fairly well....between 3 and 5 months, he got in a habit where he was getting up at least once in an 8-hour stretch, but in the last couple weeks, he seems to have transitioned back to typically making it 8p to 4a, dreamfeed/change at 4a, then going back down for about 2 more hours. He powernaps during the day (15-30 minutes, two or three times) and still has unbridled rage for the carseat :( Baby E loves bathtime, books, and picking any and everything up within his reach (and it usually goes straight into the mouth).

We have a pretty decent flow/schedule and keep things very regimented Monday through Friday (it's what works best for the three of us). Weekends are spent trying to soak up every second we can together...there are no words for how hard it is to leave your child at daycare 50 hours a week. S.U.C.K.S.

We had a scary time right after Christmas when Baby E had two seizures but we're hopeful that they were febrile and never happen again. He was "off" (not himself, diarrhea, etc.) for 2 weeks afterward, but then came back around. It was terrifying but both Timothy and myself kept cool heads throughout the whole thing *proud of us*

Speaking of us - we've settled into parenthood quite nicely! We jokingly refer to ourselves as "rookies" and sometimes we make new-parent mistakes, BUT....Baby E doesn't seem to mind (or loves us anyways). We've gone out for a few hours a couple times just the two of us, which is good and healthy, despite the fact we end up talking about the baby and how much we miss him the entire time :) Most of the time, if we want to do something, we take him with us! He does great in the Ergo, although lately he's big and strong enough to just sit in a stroller or cart! Haven't been comfortable enough to leave him overnight yet, but we'll get there.

Since we are health/fitness coaches and this is technically a healthy living blog, I suppose I should give a "Body After Baby" update! :) I've tried to be intentional about giving my body the time it needs to "bounce back" from pregnancy. I know certain parts of me have permanently changed at the bone-structure level (i.e., HIPS!) but I lost the 30 pounds I gained during pregnancy within the first couple weeks, and my focus since then has been rebuilding lost muscle! I continue to be so so SO proud of my body (and mind!) for giving birth naturally....definitely more incentive to treat it right and take good care of it. :) I workout 6-7 days a week....but could certainly be more strict on my nutrition.

In summary, Baby E is just as perfect as he was on Day 1, if not more so! The love for your child is something that cannot be appropriately described or matched, ever. Being his parents is a complete honor and privilege and we strive to do the best we can by him, for him, always!